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UCLA's Stone Treatment Center, an integrated program between UCLA Urology and UCLA Nephrology, is a multidisciplinary program offering compassionate care and the latest surgical and non-surgical treatments for kidney stones, with success rates well above the national average.
The UCLA Stone Treatment Center began in 1985 and was the first on the west coast to accomplish the removal of kidney stones non-surgically with a lithotripter.
UCLA has a long-held team approach to treating kidney stones that includes a diverse group of healthcare professionals including urologists, nephrologists, radiologists, researchers, clinical nurse specialists, nutritionists and laboratory technicians that allows for specialized perspectives for deciding upon the best option for each individual patient.
UCLA urologist Caroline Wallner, MD, presented a live-streaming webinar to discuss what causes urinary stones, symptoms, how stones are imaged, what stones are made of, how stones are treated depending on location, size, and composition, and how to prevent future stones.
Kidney stones result when urine becomes too concentrated and substances in the urine crystalize to form stones. Symptoms arise when the stones begin to move down the ureter causing intense pain. Kidney stones may form in the pelvis or calyces of the kidney or in the ureter.
Definition
A kidney stone is a solid concretion of minerals that forms in a kidney. Kidney stones vary in size and may stay in the kidney or travel down the urinary tract. Urinary stone disease is one of the most common urological conditions in the United States and throughout the world.
New research at UCLA shows that 1 in 10 American men and 1 in 14 women has had a kidney stone. According to Urologic Diseases in America, kidney stones are one of the most common disorders of the urinary tract.
Each year in the United States, people make more than a million visits to health care providers and more than 300,000 people go to emergency rooms for kidney stone problems.
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The Department of Urology at UCLA is one of the most progressive and comprehensive urology programs in the country. Our faculty members work side by side with research scientists for new cures and treatments for kidney cancer.
